A Ben 10 story
by Knight1908
Summary: This is a retailing of my own about Ben and Gwen's road trip with Max. In it, the two are actually step cousins, and how will there story turn out, you'll just have to read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

It was a hot first day of summer as a twelve-year-old Ben Tennyson waited outside his house on Grandpa Max who was going to take him on a road trip across the country.

"Can't wait to get out of here," said Ben as he noticed the rust buck heading down the street.

"Hey Ben, you ready to get this show on the road?" asked Max as he opened the door to the RV.

"Sure am," said Ben as he stepped in, but all of his happiness drained from him the second he saw her sitting at the table.

"What is she doing here?!" asked Ben as he pointed at his redheaded cousin. She was actually his step cousin, his uncle Frank had married her mother a few years back when the kids were ten.

"I know you two don't get along, but her father asked me to bring her along," said Grandpa Max.

"Trust me, I would rather be home then here too, but they threatened to burn my books if I didn't come with you," said Gwen who looked upset to be in the same room with Ben.

"Great, there goes the good summer," thought Ben as he joined Grandpa Max up front. Later that day, they were at a campground where Grandpa Max was getting ready to cook.

"Hey Ben, you mind to go and gather more firewood for me?" asked Max as he noticed that Ben and Gwen were sitting on a nearby bench as far from each other as they could while on it.

"Sure," said Ben as he stood up and went into the woods. After a few minutes of gathering sticks, Ben had a good amount gathered.

"Can't believe she's going to be with us, how am I going to relax?" asked Ben to himself. Ever since he had met Gwen two years ago he had had a crush on her, he found her red hair enchanting along with her green eyes. However, knowing that they were going to be cousins he had decided to act annoying and hide his feelings. Suddenly, a loud boom rang out from the sky as a meteor headed for him.

"Whoa!" said Ben as he jumped out of the way, landing in the bushes. After collecting himself, Ben decided to go check out the meteor.

"What is it?" asked Ben as he noticed that it was not a meteor but some kind of metal capsule. He then fell into the crater as the ground under him gave out.

"Ouch," said Ben as he sat up. The capsule then opened as a green light shone out of it.

"A watch?" asked Ben as he reached out to grab it, but the watch jumped at him, wrapping itself on to him.

"What the?!" asked Ben as he tried to shake the watch off, he even tried to pry it off but nothing worked.

"What is this?" asked Ben after a few minutes. By this point he was messing with the watch, which popped up after he had hit a button.

"Is this a game?" asked Ben as he started to turn the dial on the watch, figures changing on it as he did so. He then found a picture of a dog like creature.

"What happens when I do this?" asked Ben as he slammed down on the dial, a green light bursting forth from it. Back at the campsite, Grandpa Max and Gwen were still waiting for Ben to return.

"Where is that doofus?" asked Gwen with a mad expression. However, inside she was worried that Ben may have gotten hurt. Just like Ben, Gwen had fallen in love with him when they first met, but knew it wouldn't be right to act on her feelings.

"Maybe we should go check for him," said Max as he grabbed a flashlight. Before they could move, Wildmutt came out of the forest.

"What is that?!" asked Gwen as she hid behind Max.

"A Vulpimancer, but what would one of them be doing here?" asked Max. Wildmutt let out a few grunts as he turned to a tree and used it's nails to carve BEN into a tree.

"Ben, is that you?" asked Gwen as she looked at him. Wildmutt nodded his head as he just sat there.


	2. Chapter 2

"How, how did this happen?" asked Gwen as she and Grandpa stood with Wildmutt. He just grunted at the question.

"The meteor that hit in the woods, it had a watch in it, didn't it?" asked Max. Wildmutt just nodded his head.

"There's something your not telling us, Grandpa, how did you know about this watch thing and what Ben is right now?" asked Gwen.

"I wasn't an ordinary plummer, kids," said Max as he sighed while taking a few steps away from them.

"I was part of a group that hunted alien fugitives, they were an ancient organization that disbanded when your parents were still children," said Max. The Omnitrix then timed out, Ben returning to his normal body.

"What is this thing?" asked Ben as he held up the Omnitrix.

"The Omnitrix, I only ever heard of it, it's a device that holds the DNA of millions of aliens and allows the user to change into them," said Max.

"Cool," said Ben.

"Ben, that thing's dangerous," said Gwen.

"She's right, there was one alien who was always after it, his name's Vilgax, a warlord not afraid to destroy entire planets to get what he wants," said Max.

"I get the danger, but this thing doesn't have a way to come off," said Ben.

"I know someone that may be able to help, but it will take time for him to get here," said Max. Up in space, a ship was circling the planet.

"Sir, we have located the Omnitrix," said one of Vilgax's drones as he stood before the warlord who was floating in a regeneration chamber. Vilgax had taken damage in his search for the watch, and was in the process of healing.

"Send a drone to retrieve it," said Vilgax. Back on the surface, Ben and the others were sleeping after eating what they could for dinner when the RV started to shake.

"Ben, you had better not have messed with anything else," said Gwen.

"This isn't me, dweeb," said Ben. The giant drone then landed in the nearby forest as the three ran outside.

"It's Vilgax, we need to get out of here," said Max as he went to climb back into the rustbucket.

"And just let that thing kill innocent people?" asked Ben.

"What are we supposed to do, we don't have any weapons," said Gwen.

"But I do," said Ben as he held up the Omnitrix. He then turned the dial to Diamondhead and slammed it down.

"I'm not going to run and let others get hurt because of me," said Diamonhead before running to battle the drone.

"Grandpa, we can't just let him do this!" said Gwen with a worried yet terrified expression.

"Then let's help him," said Max as he retrieved two alien guns from a hidden compartment in the RV. Meanwhile, Diamondhead was attacking the leg of the drone with his arms turned into swords.

"Could have used some time to figure these aliens out," said Diamonhead as he dodged a laser. The next thing he knew, gunshots rang out behind him as lasers hit the drone.

"Where did you guys get those?" asked Diamonhead.

"Talk later, right now we have to focus on this thing," said Gwen.

"Ben, Petrosapien's aren't just made of crystal, they can also create it, touch the ground and make a tower under the drone," said Max.

"Right!" said Diamonhead as he slammed his hands onto the ground. A large crystal tower then grew out of the ground, ripping the drone in half.

"It worked," said Diamonhead before he timed out.

"Do you know how worried I was, you doofus?!" asked Gwen as she gave him a hug, which surprised him.

"You actually care about me?" asked Ben.

"More like the amount of trouble me and Grandpa would be in if you had died," said Gwen as she pulled away. She turned away so fast that Ben couldn't see just how red she was, but Max had.

"Can't believe these two are the only once in the family that don't know about the other's feelings," thought Max as he also noticed how red Ben's face was.

"Well Ben, since you're going to have the Omnitrix stuck on you anyway, we might as well find time to train those aliens," said Max.

"But we'll work on that tomorrow," said Max as he yawned. The three then went back to the RV, and while Max drive them away from the area, Ben and Gwen had gone back to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of days after finding the Omnitrix, Grandpa Max has taken the kids to a witchcraft museum in Salem Massachusetts.

"All of these books are said to have ancient spells from the 16th century in them," said the female tour guide.

"I think she's from the 16th century," whispered Ben to his cousin, which made her laugh a little.

"However, the most powerful of all magical artifacts we have is one of the Charms of Bezel," said the guide as she led them to a stone placed inside a glass case.

"It said that this charm is the Charm of Luck, which gives the wearer all the luck they could ever wish for," said the guide.

"Maybe it could give me the luck to get away from you, doofus," said Gwen as she elbowed him.

"I'm the one who should be saying that, dweeb," said Ben as he elbowed her back. Neither of them were facing each other as they talked. Max just looked at the two, noticing that their faces were telling the opposite of what they were saying.

"Whoa, what's happening?!" asked Gwen as everyone in the room suddenly started to float into the air. Red smoke then poured through a window before reforming into a tall pale man wearing a red and black robe.

"Finally, the last charm," said the man as he reached out to grab the stone, his hand passing through the glass as he did so.

"Looks like it's hero time," said Ben as he selected Stinkfly, allowing him to use the lack of gravity to his advantage.

"What are you?!" asked the man as he looked at Stinkfly after the flash of green light.

"A hero," said Stinkfly before shooting goo at the man's feet.

"I don't have the time for this," said the man as he pulled the charm out of the box and placed it in the part of his robe around his neck where other charms were.

"Now my powers are even stronger," said the man as a blood red light shined from all of the charms.

"Just who are you?" asked Stinkfly.

"The name is Hex, and I," said the man before Stinkfly shot goo around his mouth.

"Yeah, I don't care," said Stinkfly. Since Hex was distracted his spell ended, letting everyone to land gently to the ground.

"Get everyone out of here," said Stinkfly to Max and Gwen. As everyone was rushing out the door, Hex had composed himself enough to use his magic to blast the goo of him.

"You'll pay for that!" said Hex. Before he could do anything, Max and Gwen began to throw trash cans at him, one of which dislodged the Charm of Luck.

"No!" said Hex as the stone rolled to Gwen.

"Looks like you weren't so lucky," said Gwen as she picked it up.


	4. Chapter 4

"You don't know the power you are missing with, child," said Hex.

"Neither do you," said Stinkfly before time ran up.

"Oh come on!" said Ben as he looked at the watch. Hex used this as his cue to use a spell, but was caught in the side of the head by a trash can lead.

"Wow, this thing really works," said Gwen as she looked at the charm. It had started to glow blue since she took it.

"Might want to take these," said Ben as he removed the other charms that Hex had on him while Max tied him up. Later, outside the museum, Grandpa Max was talking with the owner.

"We were looking for others that were still stuck in there when the fight suddenly ended, and these were left," said Max as he held the charms in his hands.

"You keep them, I'm shutting this place down after this," said the owner as he walked away.

"Guess we get to keep them," said Ben.

"I think you should hold onto them, Gwen, it looked like the Charm of Luck reacted to you," said Max

"I already have an idea of what to do with them," said Gwen with a smile. Later that evening, Gwen was in the bunked room in the back of the RV.

"Are you done yet, dweeb?" asked Ben.

"Keep your shirt on," said Gwen before she came out. Ben's eyes went wide as he looked at her in the costume that she had made for her secret identity. She was wearing a black leotard with wrist length sleeves, black bike shorts that went to the tops of her knees, and black and purple cat mask. She was also wearing ballet slippers and a pair of gloves, the charms were all attached to the sleeve of her right arm.

"Well, What do you think of Lucky Girl?" asked Gwen. She was blushing a little from Ben looking at her.

"Looks good, sweetheart," said Max as he nudged Ben with his elbow.

"Yeah, looks good for a dweeb," said Ben. In truth he thought she was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen.

"Thanks, doofus," said Gwen as her emotions quickly turned to hate before closing the curtain shut to change back. Max just got up and went to the driver's seat as Ben let his head hit off the table.

"I really need to just come out about this," thought Ben.


	5. Chapter 5

A month after the trip had begun, Max and the kids were in the middle of the Nevada desert waiting on Max's contact.

"How long is it going to take for him to get here?" asked Ben as he kicked a rock.

"Hate to agree with the doofus, but we have been waiting for three hours," said Gwen.

"He should be here soon, he had to come from a far away planet after all," said Max.

"Far away indeed," said Greymatter that appeared before them in a flash of light.

"Ben, Gwen, I would like you to meet Azmuth, creator of the Omnitrix and an old friend of mine," said Max.

"The creator of the Omnitrix is a Greymatter?" asked a surprised Ben.

"That's what you call us, but yes, and I must say that you have been doing quit a job using the Omnitrix," said Azmuth.

"You've been watching us this whole time?" asked Gwen.

"Yes I have, After Max had contacted me I had hacked into the satellites of your world, watching as you used the Omnitrix to save people," said Azmuth.

"I'll miss being a hero, but I can't keep the two of them in danger," said Ben.

"Sorry to tell you then, but I'm not going to remove the Omnitrix," said Azmuth.

"Your not?!" asked all the humans. Ben and Gwen out of shock while Grandpa Max was out of anger.

"When I sent the Omnitrix to Earth, it was programmed for Max's DNA, but it latched onto you since your DNA has similar markers to his," said Azmuth.

"But after seeing you use it, I have decided that there may not be any better place for it then with you," said Azmuth.

"That's great and all, but Vilgax is still after it and us," said Ben.

"Let me see it for a second," said Azmuth. Ben them knelt down to allow him access to the Omnitrix.

"There, that should make it so he can't trace you anymore, I also unlocked some of the Master Control functions," said Azmuth after turning the dial a few times.

"What do they do?" asked Gwen.

"First off I unlocked ten new aliens for you, secondly you are now able to use the voice command to change by saying the name of the alien you want," said Azmuth.

"What's the last thing?" asked Max who was still mad but understood where he was coming from.

"You can also change forms while in alien form without timing out," said Azmuth. Before another word could be said, something landed near them.

"I want that watch!" said Vilgax as he came out of the crater created by his capsule landing.

"Take it that this is Vilgax," said Ben as everyone had panicked expressions at the sight of him.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hand over the Omnitrix and I might spare you're pathetic lives," said Vilgax.

"Not happening ugly," said Ben before turning into Diamondhead. Gwen used a spell she had learnt to warp the Lucky Girl outfit onto her, and Max had taken a large alien gun out of the rust bucket.

"Let's do it," said Diamondhead as he punched the ground, creating a diamond prison around Vilgax.

"Is this all you got, child?!" asked Vilgax as he flexed his muscles, which was enough to break free. Both Gwen and Max then fired at Vilgax.

"This is child's play," said Vilgax as he swatted the spell and blast away with on arm.

"Time to run," said Diamondhead as he changed to XLR8 and ran them all to safety.

"We need to get out of here, even magic had no effect on him," said Gwen with a terrified expression.

"No, he'll just keep coming after us, we have to make a stand here and now," said XLR8.

"You're brave for your age," said Vilgax as he appeared behind them.

"He's fast," thought XLR8 as he turned around. However, Vilgax had grabbed ahold of Max and Gwen by this point.

"Give up child, or lose the ones you care for," said Vilgax as he tightened his grip on them.

"Don't...do it," said Gwen through her lack of breath.

"I'm going to lose both of them at this rate," thought XLR8 with a terrified expression.

"Maybe I was wrong in letting you keep the watch, Vilgax can beat you in four turns in Earth boxing," said Azmuth.

"Shut it old man," said Vilgax.

"Wait, boxing only has, smart move," thought XLR8 as a smile grew on his face.

"Why are you smiling in the face of losing what you care for?" asked Vilgax.

"Because I'm not losing anything," said XLR8 before he transformed into a large dolphin like alien that towered over Vilgax.

"A Dolphintrox?!" asked a terrified Vilgax as he backed away, dropping both Max and Gwen.

"Everyone is afraid of something, even you Vilgax," siad Azmuth with a laugh.

"And I think Screecher is just the thing to get some payback," said Ben before releasing a sonic blast from his mouth that sent Vilgax flying backwards.

"I, I need to get out of here?!" said Vilgax as he tried to stand, but was disoriented from the sonic blast. However, he was knocked back to the ground by Screecher landing on him from the sky.

"You're not getting away," said Screecher before punching Vilgax over and over again.

"Ben, you're going to kill him," said Max as he and Gwen stood up, noticing green blood splatter across the ground from Screecher's punches.

"He deserves it," said Screecher without stopping his assault.

"Would a hero kill someone, even if they're the bad guy?!" asked Gwen who was horrified to see what Ben was doing.

"No, no they wouldn't," said Screecher as he stopped himself. He then stood up and left the unconscious body of Vilgax to return to the others.

"Are you two alright?" asked Screecher as he turned back to Ben.

"Just fine," said Max.

"Gwen?" asked Ben, who was actually showing his worry for her.

"I'm better than you are, doofus," said Gwen with a mocking grin. That grin quickly left her face when Ben wrapped his arms around her to give Gwen a hug.

"All I could see was red when he was hurting you," said Ben as tears ran down his cheeks.

"It's alright Ben, you're not getting rid of me that easy," said Gwen as she hugged him back.

"Hate to interrupt, but what do you plan to do with him?" asked Azmuth as he pointed to the unconscious Vilgax.

"I have a Null Void projector in the RV," said Max. Ben then turned into XLR8 to run him back to grab it.


	7. Chapter 7

After sending Vilgax away, Ben and Gwen were in the rust bucket waiting on Max who was saying goodbye to Azmuth.

"So, you took it kind of hard when I was in danger, huh?" asked Gwen as the two stood as far away from each other as possible. Gwen up by the driver's seat why Ben was leaning against the wall to the sleeping area.

"I mean, it makes since that you would get mad that your cousin was being hurt," said Gwen who was starting to blush a little.

"I've never thought of you as my cousin," said Ben, which surprised Gwen.

"This might sound wrong, but I don't care anymore, I fell in love with you when we first met," said Ben as he started to walk toward her.

"The reason I've been acting that way to you is because of my feelings, but it's wrong for me to have them since you're my cousin now," said Ben as he stood by the little table.

"You probably don't," said Ben before Gwen came up to him and laid one onto his mouth, shutting him up.

"Ben, I've been in love with you just as long, but I thought there was no way for us to be together," said Gwen.

"After today, I don't care what others think," said Ben before kissing her this time. Max then walked in, catching the two of them in mid lip lock.

"Grandpa," said Gwen as the two pulled away from each other, their faces fully red from embarrassment but also filled with worry.

"It's about time you two," said Max with a big grin and laugh as he shut the door behind him.

"You knew about our feelings for each other?" asked Ben.

"Not just me, your parents do too, that's why we came up with this road trip, to try and get you two to confess to each other," said Max as Ben and Gwen sat down at the table to let him through.

"I can't believe we were so obvious to everyone else," said Gwen as she put her face in her hands as her elbows rested on the table.

"The rest of us thought the same thing; now then let's get a move on shall we, we still have a lot of places to go," said Max as he took the driver's seat.

"Can't wait," said Ben as he grabbed ahold of Gwen's hand as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You can't imagine how many times I've dreamt of this," said Gwen with a smile as the RV took off down the road in the sunset.


	8. Chapter 8

At the end of summer, Max had taken Ben and Gwen to Ben's house where the family had decided to meet up.

"We're back," said Ben as they walked into his house.

"Welcome back you three," said Ben's dad as he and his wife gave Ben a hug while Gwen's parents did the same. They then switched kids before also hugging Grandpa Max.

"So, how did the summer go?" asked Gwen's mom.

"It went great, we had a lot of fun," said Ben as Gwen took his hand. Both preteens were blushing as their parents looked at them.

"The plan was a success then, huh?" asked Gwen's dad as he looked at Max.

"Had a few rocky patches but we got what we wanted in the end," said Max with a half smile.

"You can tell us all about it after dinner," said Ben's mom as she and her sister-in-law headed for the kitchen before a loud explosion grabbed their attention from outside.

"I thought Animo got arrested in Chicago," said Ben as he opened the door to find the crazy Dr. riding a large bullfrog down the street.

"He's good at breaking out," said Gwen.

"What are the two of them talking about?" asked Ben's dad.

"How do you know that guy?" asked Gwen's dad.

"It's a long story, and make it fast you two," said Max as he looked at Ben and Gwen.

"I got the crazy Dr.," said Ben before turning into Upchuck.

"Why do I have to fight the bullfrog?" asked Gwen after turning into Lucky Girl. She then flew Upchuck out the door and after Animo.

"It's a long story," said Max as he noticed the expression on the four parents' faces.


End file.
